Ferragamo says CEO Norsa to leave post by end of 2016

MILAN, April 21 (Reuters) - Salvatore Ferragamo's
Chief Executive Michele Norsa will leave his post by the end of
the year after a decade at the helm of the Italian luxury goods
maker, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The change comes only a month after Ferragamo announced that
its creative director Massimiliano Giornetti had stepped down.

Norsa joined Ferragamo as CEO in 2006 and led the company
during its 2011 stock market listing. He was previously CEO at
Italian fashion designer Valentino.

"Norsa has expressed the wish to prioritise family and to
focus on new professional interests after a long period of
intense efforts and rewarding results," the company said in a
statement.

A source at the company confirmed that the decision had been
taken in agreement with the Ferragamo family and was not due to
any differences between the CEO and the group. The source said
there was no candidate lined up to replace him.

The company said Norsa will continue to work with the
Florence-based company in a non-executive role until the
shareholders' meeting to approve its 2017 results, expected in
the first few months of 2018.

"It's a surprise. I don't know why he left so suddenly but I
don't think it's going to help the stock," a Milan-based luxury
goods analyst told Reuters.

The announcement came after the stock market close.

Norsa's departure comes at a time when the luxury sector is
grappling with weakening consumer spending in China, once a
catalyst, falling oil prices and global security threats
affecting tourist spending.

Since the company listed on the Milan bourse in June 2011,
the value of Ferragamo shares have more than doubled.

Ferragamo's performance in 2016 is expected to be in line
with last year's and the company is focusing on raising
profitability, Norsa said earlier on Thursday, speaking on the
sidelines of the annual shareholders' meeting.

He said online sales continued to grow, particularly in the
United Kingdom and the United States, and that the group would
push for e-commerce in Asia "where expansion however requires
more time because of bureaucracy".

Ferragamo reported a larger-than-expected 11 percent rise in
core profit for 2015 but like-for-like sales in the first two
months of this year broadly matched last year's 3 percent fall.
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, Claudia De Cristoferi, additional
reporting by Stephen Jewkes and Silvia Ognibene in Florence;
Editing by Susan Fenton)